Well, far as I'm concerned, you've got it pretty much bang on with what I'd expect. The needle has swung back to a more alternative bent, but then again, a lot of what may be considered alternative music had big mainstream chart success, so it all makes sense to me. The breadth of songs voted for keeps pretty wide, 205 different songs getting at least one vote, which, given a slightly smaller aide-memoire, goes to show a lot of people voting still kept a steady stream of new songs they were voting for coming in.
So, time to get out the stats once more. It was close, but in the end I decided that 2008 was better than 2007, so were you with me on this one?
Well, at least musically if not financially 2008 had some cause for celebration.
Hmm, not that many, to be honest. Out of 20 number 1 songs in the singles chart in 2008, only 6 did not make this year's Top 50, and whilst I have no hard facts on this, I suspect this is a very high figure (possibly beaten last year, I'll leave someone else to prove this though). Probably the biggest commercial success not to hit this chart was Basshunter's "Now You're Gone", lamenting being such an early release in the year and getting to number 61. Ne-Yo may be able to get people to queue for miles for his gigs, but his appeal wasn't quite so frenetic amongst the voters, "Closer" being some way away at number 79. Of course, if you're talking about long awaited singles, then we have to mention the mighty Guns N Roses - I for one probably wouldn't have put money on them appearing as an artist in the Top 50 database when we kicked this shebang off in 2000. "Chinese Democracy" obviously had a few abstentions with you though, blustering its way to number 58 and no further. Of Top 50 artists from years gone by that got the nudge, Snow Patrol deserve a mention here. Thanks to Leona Lewis one of their old songs got in, but their new compositions couldn't - "Take Back The City" forgetting the receipt and being turned away at 70. And probably the biggest band never to get in the top 50, Oasis, managed to increase their total to 8 songs over the years, "Shock Of The Lightning" doing the best, but still hiding behind the sofa at number 98.
Naturally, we can't be mind readers, but that doesn't stop us attempting to second guess what you'd vote for in the aide-memoire. Sometimes we're a bit wayward though, and this year saw 11 songs as popular as a Woollies gift voucher as a christmas present and getting no votes. Some of them were artists who had other songs out that fared better, but leaving the return of Morrissey in amongst them? And what about White Lies, who have already shown themselves to be ones to watch in 2009? Kudos points have gone begging.
So that leaves us to see how good everyone's powers of observation were in finding the made-up song. Here's the contenders:
This was indeed a bumper year for some very odd band names appearing. Personally, I can understand people having a hard time believing Frightened Rabbit and Midnight Juggernauts are genuine, but I can vouch for the latter (and even recommend their album "Dystopia"), whilst the former can simply revel in it's obscurity. Nonetheless, the majority of you did correctly spot that "Superfootball - Belching Blancmange" was indeed utter tosh (and if anyone wants to know how why I came up with it originally in 1996, drop me a line). That said, if you Googled it to prove you were correct in your assumption before submitting your answer, then frankly, that's cheating.
Well, for the Top 50 singles of 2008, yes, it is. For the umbrella (ella ella eh eh eh - sorry, really should stop that now) site that is Top 50 singles, not necessarily. I won't say any more about this yet, but suffice it to say that you might expect an email from me some time later on in the year, and long before we get to the Top 50 of 2009..... Of course, anyone who wants to let me know what they think of the results (preferably without expletives), crank up your email!
Other results:
Top 50 of 2009 Top 50 of 2007 Top 50 of 2006 Top 50 of 2005 Top 50 of 2004 Top 50 of 2003 Top 50 of 2002 Top 50 of 2001 Top 50 of 2000Site designed by Jason Mansfield, 2008
Thanks go to the following people for assisting with getting together our comprehensive aide-memoire: Greg B, Kat H, Dan Mc
Any thoughts, comments on the site are welcomed, just mail me.